Police not probing Twitter incident

The Capitol Police are not investigating what Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) is calling an online identity theft that led to a lewd photograph being posted from his Twitter account.

Over the weekend, a photo of a man’s bulging underwear was sent to a Seattle woman from Weiner’s active Twitter account. Weiner said his Twitter and Facebook were hacked, and on Monday he said he’d hired an attorney to look into civil and criminal actions.

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Sgt. Kimberly Schneider of the Capitol Police, which has broad jurisdiction over protecting members of Congress, said in an email that “we don’t have an active investigation” looking into the incident. Capitol Police is typically contacted when there are incidents with lawmakers, and often coordinates with other enforcement entities.

Andrew Ames, a spokesman with the FBI’s Washington field office, said he doesn’t “have any information to provide…at this point” about an investigation. Ames said the FBI is a “large organization” and he “can’t say definitively whether his office has made a complaint.”

A spokesman for Weiner did not answer an email requesting information on which lawyer he hired, who is paying for the attorney and whether they have reached out to any authorities about his claim that his online identity was hacked.

Minority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday that Weiner is “pursuing the proper authorities,” but added that he has not spoken to him.

Weiner has said little since the incident, but has continued to tweet. On Tuesday morning, he commented on the debt ceiling vote that is scheduled to be held this evening. He said that he hopes “markets get this gop debtlimit stunt,” referring to the vote to hike the nation’s borrowing ceiling without accompanying spending cuts.

“Lets remember that the debt limit vote is to continue to pay the BUSH debt. #TaxCutsForBillionaires,” Weiner wrote, referring to former President George W. Bush.